Here’s the latest scooter update, a kind of grab-bag of news and thoughts in recent weeks:
It is now possible to get a scooter permit, but it won’t be absolutely necessary until November when the fines start kicking in. According to faculty member Barbara Ambros, who got a permit:
“You need to go to Public Safety to get the scooter permit. I gave them my scooter’s VIN number, make, and color which they listed under comments. Just got it today. I had to stand in line for about 30 minutes…”
You may also have noticed scooter parking going up around campus. Facilities Maintenance Manager Adrian Naylor said:
“Scooter safety racks have been installed at the following locations: Swain lot, Hanes lot, EPA gated lot, Emerson drive, Peabody, Crescent lot, Public Safety lot, Caldwell lot, Porthole lots, Wilson Library, Glaxo lot and Ridge Road. We are in the process of installing the scooter racks at all MC [motorcycle] parking locations.”
The problem with the racks that have been installed, according to scooter folk who have seen them, is that the current number and placement is inadequate. Barbara Ambros again:
“I checked the scooter parking in the parking lot behind the Ackland
Museum and found two motorcycle parking areas totaling about 10 or
12 spots combined. Each had one spot with a u-rack for a scooter.
My concern is that if you only put up one u-rack per motorcycle
parking area that can only accommodate one bike, there are not going
to be enough spots that offer secure parking. If one person parks
their scooter, or motorcycle, in that spot, that’s it. No more spots
available.”
Cheryl Stout, Assistant Director for Parking Services, has been keeping me up to date on the scooter parking situation. She said that the Department of Public Safety (DPS) is “installing them as we go and intend only to do an educational program through October.” I took this to mean that we will come to see increased u-locks on campus for scooters based on areas of campus that seem to require them. Ms. Stout: “We’ve got areas identified for the scooters to go in and we’ll get them in asap and then monitor other areas. I’m also going to request, as I said before, that the planners keep these needs in mind as they renovate or build new buildings.”
The DPS also put out this official email regarding the issue:
“Gas-Powered Motorcycles, Mopeds, Scooters, and Bikes or Two-wheeled Motorized Vehicle Parking — Owners of “Motorized Two-Wheeled Vehicles” (gas-powered motorcycles, mopeds, scooters, and bikes) that do not require registration are required to purchase and display a UNC MC permit and must park in designated MC zoned parking areas. Permits may be purchased beginning Wednesday, August 12th at DPS for an annual flat rate of $24. U racks will be installed throughout campus at MC zoned areas to accommodate these vehicles. Warning notices will be issued until November 1st to insure operators of these vehicles have adequate notice and time to purchase and display a permit. For more information regarding valid parking areas, visit the DPS website: http://www.dps.unc.edu/”
I would like to thank the University and particularly Cheryl Stout for working to incorporate safe areas on campus for scooters to park. However, the situation remains as it was at the close of the Board of Trustees meeting: we still must park in designated motorcycle parking, and though the permit prices are lower, we still have to get a permit.
Also, though we pointed out a number of places on campus that would be great for scooter parking – near the street and with ample bike racks- the new regulations won’t allow scooters to park there because they involve passing over sidewalks. Unfortunately the tendency of bureaucracy is a one-way path towards increased regulation, but it would be great if we could put together a push to have scooter regulations to be reconsidered so that they are more in line with what we see at (as much as I hate to say it) Duke and frankly, anywhere else in the world.
In other places, scooters go unregulated, are treated as bikes, have *permanently* low permit fees (unlike ours, which might rise next year unless we put up a fight), and scooters are even *required* to park at bike racks. We should fight to have scooters allowed on sidewalks when walked, and have people be fined for riding them on the sidewalk. This would free up space, make people happy, and bring the gratifying pleasure of knowing that the regulations are based on good sense.
Scooter folk, we still have a ways to go…
We do need to stay on top of the situation. I requested that the U rack behind Wilson Library be moved over as it was too close to the stone wall. They simply put another one beside it, which is good, but when I talked to the maintenance folks I explained that two scooters can be locked to a U rack on either post. They are spacing them so that the scooter will pull in in the middle, thus one scooter per rack which is counter productive and wasteful, but at least they’re trying.
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